Oregon
Literary
Review
Vol. 2, No. 2

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Leslie Wilson LUST AND TEQUILA A Short Screenplay FADE IN: EXT. SAN DIEGO - CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAY A dozen CONSTRUCTION WORKERS strike on a skeletal high rise. An agitated UNION BOSS paces back and forth on a second story steel beam. He shouts down to the site FOREMAN and the OWNER of the construction company who stand on the ground. UNION BOSS We're not coming down until you fix it. FOREMAN I can't keep shouting. Just come on down and let me talk to you. UNION BOSS Ain't nothing to talk about. Do it. The foreman turns to the owner -- FOREMAN What do you wanna do? OWNER Fire their asses. I can get Mexicans for cheaper anyway. FOREMAN You know union won't -- An old convertible pulls up, top down. SUSANNAH CLIFFORD (35) drives. She's neat, clean, proper, like a starched white napkin at a Bel Air Country Club wedding. ROBBY TURNER (25) rides beside her. He, on the other hand, looks like he leads a life as messy as Mick Jagger's. His long hair as disobedient as his baggy clothes. FOREMAN Oh no -- OWNER What now? FOREMAN The press. The owner turns around just in time to see Susannah and Robby step out of the car. Both hold high end digital Nikons. FOREMAN Newspaper don't usually beat TV. Must be ambitious. The owner strides toward them. OWNER Out of here. This is a private site. Robby skirts around him, snaps photos of the protesters. SUSANNAH Sorry boss. First amendment and all that. She snaps photos over his shoulder as he crowds her back toward her car, his arms outstretched. UNION BOSS What are you afraid of? Let 'em snap away you so innocent. The owner is distracted. Susannah slips under his arm, snaps photos. He's had it and turns on the union leader. OWNER Damm it, you won't screw this up for me -- Leaning forward, shaking his angry finger at the owner -- UNION BOSS These are unsafe working conditions. They're shavings -- He loses his balance and falls. Robby begins to set his camera down, already moving to help the injured man. Susannah stops him. SUSANNAH Let the others do that. Journalistic integrity. Objectivity. You can help them more by documenting this. Robby nods, readies his camera to take more shots. The other workers rush down to help the victim. The foreman gets on his cell phone. The owner backs away as Susannah and Robby snap photos. EXT. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DESERT - HIGHWAY Susannah drives Robby in the convertible. ROBBY So those were pretty good, right? SUSANNAH You've got a mighty lot to learn. ROBBY Little guy takes on millionaire asshole. That always gets the front page, right? SUSANNAH Oh we'll get the front page, but it won't get me the Pulitzer. God, I can't believe Heather Nightly beat me to it. ROBBY You were a finalist. SUSANNAH I'm still working for the San Diego Shit Kicker. The only way I'm getting to Los Angeles is the Pulitzer. Why won't they send me to Iraq? Changing the subject -- ROBBY So what's the plan? SUSANNAH I'm gonna stop by the sheriff's. See if he'll escort us. ROBBY Cool. What did you tell Eric? SUSANNAH He thinks we're covering the Lobster Fest in San Pedro. You didn't tell anyone? ROBBY Lips fused. SUSANNAH Good. I don't want anyone beating me to this. This could be it for me. Good. Good. Mighty good. EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF YUMA - WAREHOUSE In the middle of nowhere, a corrugated tin building rusts patiently. A black jeep parked out front. Mesas and enormous boulders, like the Jumbo Rocks of Joshua Tree, surround the area. INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM ROSA (65) walks through rows of MEXICAN TEENAGE GIRLS sewing on machines. The old Mexican woman looks like a dragon, breathing fire and intolerance. She wears a gold crucifix on a chain around her neck and carries a cane, which she uses to strike any girl who isn't working quickly enough. Now we regard her as a sort of madam, but we'll soon learn she's quite a complicated creature. ROSA Marquez. Now there's a writer. If he could describe this warehouse -- She pauses, makes a grand sweep with her cane indicating the building. ROSA -- almacŽn, he might use words like -- One girl stands out: CARMENCITA (18). She is defiant, rebellious, as vibrant as the color red. Close on a second girl: long-haired PALOMA (16). Soft and quiet. Like a dove. She watches Rosa. Listening carefully. ROSA -- infernal. How would he work the red ants in here? Probably have them eat you. Ha-ha. I'd sure like to see that. Right on the border. La frontera. Seamstress sandwiches. The garment Carmencita is working on slips and falls to the ground. Rosa rushes to her and raises her cane. Carmencita stands and grabs the cane as Rosa strikes. Enter EMILIO (40). Dark and diabolic. Like he has scorpion blood in his veins. Shouting -- EMILIO Parada. SiŽntese. Si usted valora su vida. Carmencita narrows her eyes at Emilio, releases the cane, and sits down. He crosses to Rosa, slaps her face. EMILIO I told you not to speak English to these girls. Education will ruin them. Silencio. No m‡s cuentos. His partner SAMMY (40) walks in. Blonde, pale, thin, strung out. SAMMY What's going on? EMILIO Nothing. I got it. Emilio notices Paloma, crosses to her, fingers a lock of her hair. EMILIO We may have another one soon. Sammy joins him. SAMMY Pretty hair. She said she wanted one with pretty hair. EMILIO (to Paloma) You ready to move to the other house? Huh? Paloma looks up at them. Distrust in her eyes. Emilio drops her hair. He and Sammy exit. She pulls her hair back into a pony tail. EXT. YUMA - SHERIFF STATION Small town on the California-Mexico border. A few businesses crumbling here and there. Some scattered houses in the distance. The whole place is tired, desperate. Like an alcoholic after a two day binge. Susannah parks in front of a dusty, wooden building, more worn out than her oldest shoe. She and Robby get out of the car. INT. SHERIFF STATION Susannah and Robby walk in to find Sheriff ELTON JEFFERS (50) behind the desk doing paperwork. He looks corrupt, corroded, like the pipes in the old bungalows on the Hollywood Hills. Sheriff Jeffers looks up, leans back in the chair. ELTON You must be the busy body. SUSANNAH I beg -- ELTON Got busy body written all over you. SUSANNAH Are you gonna help me or not? ELTON Like I told you. There ain't nothing like that going on here. You got a psychedelic imagination. Must be all that fancy bottled water you drink over there in the city. Kinda messes with your mind. SUSANNAH Fine. We'll find it ourselves. ELTON The hell you will. I won't have you disturbing our local industry. Now you get that fine ass set back down in your car and go back to where you came from or I'll drag you back and plop you down in my cooling off box. Robby reaches for her elbow. ROBBY (to Susannah) Come on. She resists. Then follows him to the door. SUSANNAH (to Elton) Thanks. You're ever so helpful. They must have paid you off mighty. Susannah and Robby exit. Sheriff Jeffers reaches for the phone. EXT. UNPAVED DESERT ROAD Susannah and Robby in the convertible. Robby shuffles through papers. SUSANNAH What do her notes say? He examines the papers. ROBBY It should be up here on the south side. Susannah spots the warehouse we had seen before. She veers toward it. SUSANNAH How the mighty will fall. EXT. BEHIND BOULDERS NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah and Robby pull up. INT. WAREHOUSE - OFFICE Sparse. Bare, corrugated tin walls. Pornography and tequila bottles litter the desk. There's a front door and a small one which leads to the back sewing room. Emilio hangs up the phone as he and Sammy hear TIRES ON GRAVEL. Emilio crosses to a small peephole, looks out. He turns to Sammy -- EMILIO Hurry. Sammy rushes to the small, back door. EXT. BEHIND BOULDERS NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah and Robby prepare their cameras. INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM Sammy waves a gun and hushes the girls. SAMMY Underground. Now. He and Rosa herd the girls to a small door in the ground at the back of the room. INT. WAREHOUSE - OFFICE Emilio looks through the peephole. EXT. WAREHOUSE Nothing. Just boulders and mesas. EXT. BEHIND BOULDERS NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah and Robby get out of the car. They creep to the boulders. INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM The last girl disappears underground. Rosa closes the door, drags a chair on top of it, sits down. Sammy stands nearby with the gun, listening. INT. WAREHOUSE - OFFICE Emilio looks through the peephole. He sees a slight movement around one side of a boulder. He crosses to his desk, gets a gun out of a drawer, and walks to the front door. EXT. WAREHOUSE Emilio throws the front door open, charges toward the boulder, and waves his gun. EMILIO Get out of here. There's nothing for your pictures. EXT. BEHIND BOULDERS NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah turns to Robby. SUSANNAH I knew that sheriff was on the take. EXT. WAREHOUSE Emilio continues to charge the boulder. EMILIO Esto es la propiedad privada. Salga de aqu’. He brandishes the gun then SHOOTS at the boulder. EXT. BEHIND BOULDER NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah and Robby look at each other. ROBBY Holy crap. SUSANNAH We need a plan B. Let's go. They run to the car as they hear another BULLET HIT the boulder. They both jump. ROBBY You wanted a war zone. They get in the car. INT. WAREHOUSE Sammy looks through a slim opening between the tin panels. He hears a CAR START. Turning to Rosa, he says -- SAMMY It's okay. Rosa stands up. As she starts to pull the chair away, it flies toward her as the door is forced open by Carmencita. She jumps out of the hole yelling -- CARMENCITA Ayuda. Ayœdenos. En aqu’. She runs toward the tin walls and pounds them with her fist. CARMENCITA Ayuda. Ayuda. EXT. BEHIND BOULDER NEAR WAREHOUSE Susannah hears a FAINT SCREAM. She looks at Robby. SUSANNAH Did you hear that? ROBBY What? SUSANNAH Someone just called for help. They hear more BULLETS HITTING THE BOULDER. Susannah puts the car in gear and drives away. INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM Sammy rushes to Carmencita and wrestles her to the floor. He puts his hands around her throat, strangling her. She struggles, coughs, kicks, but she's no match for his strength. Before long, she is still, silent, dead. Sammy stands. The girls come up through the door one by one. They are alternately shocked, upset, crying as they see what has happened to their friend. Rosa is visibly shaken by this turn of events. She crosses to Carmencita and closes her eyes. Whispering -- ROSA "Because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth." Rosa stands and covers any sentimentality. ROSA See girls. You are nothing more than slaves. Slaves. Esclavos. You work hard and this won't happen to you. Perhaps Rosa's not all bad. Is she teaching the girls key words in English? Sure seems like it. Paloma, especially, is listening. Then Emilio enters, gun still in hand. EMILIO En espa–ol, Rosa. En espa–ol. He crosses to Carmencita, kicks her. EMILIO Stupid bitch. SAMMY They hear anything? EMILIO I don't think so. I don't think so. EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY Susannah and Robby driving. SUSANNAH I know I heard something. I know it. Mind spending the night? ROBBY Anything for a Pulitzer. Isn't that what you always say? SUSANNAH Damn straight. Mighty good, wouldn't it be? INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT The girls sit at their machines sewing. Rosa paces the aisles. If a girl's head drops from fatigue, Rosa strikes her with the cane. ROSA And what do you think Ursula did? She built a palace for Rebeca and Amaranta. She wanted them to have a chance at the prince. Yes? And what would you do if you were tied to a chestnut tree? Escape? Esc‡pese? Paloma rests her head on the sewing table. Rosa pokes her with her cane. ROSA Atienda, Paloma. ÀMe escucha usted? Paloma sits up and begins to sew again. We can see the girls are exhausted. Enter Emilio. Swigging tequila. EMILIO Just what I like to see. A happy family, working together. He crosses to Paloma and fingers her hair, still in a pony tail. EMILIO Magn’fico. Sammy leans in the doorway. SAMMY Ready? EMILIO Coming. He drops Paloma's hair. EMILIO (to Rosa) Get her ready for the other house. Rosa nods. Emilio and Sammy exit. Rosa continues her pacing up and down the aisles. ROSA I forgot to tell you about the wars the Colonel lost. Thirty-two. Treinta dos. Paloma lays her head down again. Rosa picks up shears and walks up behind her. Very quietly. ROSA The army machine-gunned three thousand workers. How'd you like that? Machine-gunned. As she says these last two words, she picks up Paloma's pony tail and cuts it off at the nape of her neck. Paloma gasps. The other girls are horrified. Then Paloma starts to cry. Did Rosa cut off Paloma's hair to protect her? Rosa walks to a garbage can and throws it away. EXT. STARDUST MOTEL Just off highway. Looks old and cheap. Like a cracked vinyl handbag in a thrift shop. Susannah and Robby pull up. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - FRONT DESK Susannah and Robby check in. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Robby lies on the bed beside both cameras as Susannah paces. SUSANNAH I'm sure of it. Positive. ROBBY Wish I could help you. SUSANNAH Why can't men ever hear anything? ROBBY We're too busy thinking about sex. SUSANNAH I'm calling the INS. INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM Dark. Rosa sits at a chair beside a small table with a reading lamp, a dim circle of light. She reads Gabriel Garc’a M‡rquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. All the girls are asleep on pallets beside their sewing tables, all of the girls except Paloma. Through the legs of chairs and sewing tables, she watches Rosa who turns a page, reads some more, then sets the book, open page down, on the table. She stands and walks out the door. Paloma stands and moves to the slit between tin panels Sammy had looked through before. She pries them apart and slips out. EXT. WAREHOUSE Moonlight reflects off tin. Paloma slides along the edge of the building. She turns the corner and bumps into a figure. It's Rosa. Paloma gasps. Rosa clasps her hands. ROSA Carmencita I would have thought. But never you. The sweet one. The dove. Pueda a Dios est‡ con usted. She pushes Paloma away and disappears around the corner. Paloma looks down into her hand. Rosa has given her the gold crucifix. Paloma turns and runs into the darkness. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Robby in bed. Susannah still pacing and talking on her cell phone. SUSANNAH (into phone) I heard a girl....yes, I'm positive...I have the reporter's notes. No...don't transfer me to ICE... INT. WAREHOUSE - SEWING ROOM Emilio stands above Paloma's empty pallet. Rosa enters. He looks up at her. He is holding Paloma's pony tail in his hand. EXT. DESERT Paloma runs through the darkness. She trips and falls into a cactus. The spines cut her. She's bleeding, but she pulls herself together, sees lights in the distance, runs toward them. EXT. WAREHOUSE Emilio and Sammy run out the front door toward the jeep. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Susannah yells into her cell phone. SUSANNAH He won't help us...on the take I'm sure...Jacumbo...yeah, on the border. EXT. DESERT - WITH PALOMA She runs across the desert, hears a car, looks behind her, sees lights moving toward her. EXT. DESERT - WITH JEEP Emilio and Sammy bounce through the desert. They too head toward the lights. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Susannah puts her cell phone on the bedside table, on the far side of the bed away from the door. SUSANNAH They're sending the troops. ROBBY What do we do? SUSANNAH Wait. EXT. DESERT - WITH PALOMA She runs up to the Stardust Motel. PALOMA Ayuda. Ayuda. We see the car lights in the distance, coming closer. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Susannah hears a sound, runs to the window, looks out. She sees a bleeding and disheveled Mexican girl running across the parking lot. Susannah rushes to the door. Robby gets up and follows her. EXT. STARDUST HOTEL - PARKING LOT Paloma rushes up to Susannah. Robby is behind them. PALOMA Ayœdeme. Soy tenido contra mi hace. SUSANNAH I bet it's the girl who called for help. I knew I heard somebody. Mighty. God almighty. Do you speak Spanish? ROBBY Four years of Latin. SUSANNAH Shit. PALOMA Ayœdeme. Ayœdeme. SUSANNAH Okay. Slow down. What? Paloma pants, tries to calm down, thinks -- PALOMA Esclavos. Slaves. SUSANNAH I knew it. PALOMA AlmacŽn. Paloma pants, catches her breath, looks up at Susannah. A flash through her eyes: a new understanding for what Rosa had done for her. Paloma looks down at the crucifix still clutched in her hand. Then she looks up at Susannah. PALOMA Warehouse. La Frontera. The border. The jeep is closing in now. Robby notices the lights approaching. ROBBY Susannah. SUSANNAH We've gotta get out of here. Robby grabs Paloma's hand and drags her to the convertible. Susannah runs into the motel room. INT. STARDUST MOTEL - ROOM Susannah rushes in. She may be heading toward a cell phone, but she stops at the bed and grabs her camera instead. Then she rushes out. EXT. STARDUST MOTEL - PARKING LOT The jeep approaches. Susannah jumps in the driver seat of the convertible. Robby and Paloma are in the back. Susannah starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot. Emilio and Sammy see Paloma and follow the car out of the lot. EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY Susannah speeds down the highway. Emilio and Sammy are on their tail. Gun in hand, Sammy leans out and SHOOTS. Susannah, Paloma, and Robby duck. Susannah swerves. The jeep's right on them now. Sammy leans out, SHOOTS again, hits a tire. Susannah swerves off the road. In her headlights, a cliff rises, massive boulders all around. She heads toward the formations. The jeep is always right with them. EXT. DESERT CLIFFS Susannah slams on breaks at the foot of the rise. She, Paloma, and Robby leap from the car. Susannah forgets the camera, reaches back in for it, slings it around her head and across her shoulder. Emilio and Sammy stop behind them. Both get out, guns BLASTING. Robby is hit in the back of the head, falls forward. Paloma stops, looks back at him. Susannah grabs her, pulls her behind a boulder. They look out. Clearly, Robby is dead. EMILIO We've got you. Come on. We won't hurt you. Susannah looks around. She sees a pathway in amongst the rocks and cliffs. She grabs Paloma and pushes her up it. Paloma creeps along the path, Susannah following. Stone walls rise on either side. They hear FOOTSTEPS behind them. They hurry. The path opens to a sheer cliff wall, a hundred feet down. Susannah begins to move left across a ledge. She beckons Paloma to follow. She does. The ledge is very weak, giving beneath them as they go. Still, they hear FEET ON GRAVEL. Susannah find a narrow crevice, about ten inches wide. She slips in and pulls Paloma behind her, but Paloma won't fit. Susannah pulls, but the pass is too narrow. EMILIO Here she is. SAMMY Right behind you. Susannah hears SHOTS. Suddenly Paloma goes limp. She's been shot and slumps on the ledge. Susannah still has her arm and holds on tight. Then Susannah hears it. A LANDSLIDE. EMILIO Oh God. SAMMY Jesus Christ. Emilio and Sammy fall to their death as the ledge gives way. Susannah holds on to Paloma who is failing fast although the ledge holds beneath her. Susannah tries to squeeze back out through the crack to help Paloma, but her camera catches, wedged between her body and the rocks. She hesitates, then pushes forward, destroying the camera in the process. Paloma's really struggling now. Susannah administers CPR, but it's no use. Paloma looks up at Susannah and holds up the gold crucifix. PALOMA Rosa. Rosa. Susannah has tears in her eyes. She nods and takes the cross just as Paloma dies. A moth, or perhaps a yellow butterfly, flutters by. EXT. WAREHOUSE Susannah drives up. INS cars, officers, and the girls all mingle. Susannah gets out and walks through the confusion. SUSANNAH Rosa? Rosa? Susannah finds herself face to face with the old woman. SUSANNAH Rosa? Rosa nods. Susannah takes her hand and lays the gold crucifix in it. Rosa looks down at the crucifix then up at Susannah's face, bloody, sweaty, dirty, tired. Tears spring into Rosa's eyes as she nods, understanding. EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY Dark. No street lights. Susannah drives in her convertible, top still down. No longer neat, clean, proper. No longer like a starched white napkin at a Bel Air Country Club wedding. Passing headlights reveal tears standing in her eyes. FADE OUT